Heir Apparent
by Nuclotei
Summary: Parents and sibling brutally murdered, Terry McGinnis is taken in by Gotham's own billionaire Bruce Wayne and his wife Selina where he would have everything he could ever need. A place to stay, food, clothes, and a unique gift of having something to put his anger towards. His only problem would come in the form of Helena, their young daughter and a thorn in his side. AU.
1. Prologue

A/N: Lots of notes here. Oh look, another story! Okay, some important things. I have a GREAT love for Helena Wayne, and for Terry McGinnis. This is going to be an alternate universe where Terry isn't from the future (as you can see) and the events of JLU didn't happen. So he's **not** related to Bruce Wayne. This story is going to be about the two growing up together in the bat family, and we'll see if anyone likes it other than me! Read and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from DC Comics, I just screw them up to entertain fans.

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_Dreams_

'…thoughts…'

"…speech…"

_Heir Apparent_

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Prologue

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She stood in the waiting room of the GCPD, arms crossed over her chest, thick black hair that fell to her mid back styled neatly from her face with a single purple barrette as she stared through a dingy window that separated the waiting room from the hallway. Cold blue eyes were narrowed, corners of her mouth pulled down in a scowl as she watched a man dressed in a neat Armani black suit crouch down in front of a boy. She could only see his left shoe as it bounced, white laces untied.

The place smelled like stale coffee, and those Christmas trees that hung from the rearview mirrors of cabs. Phones rang shrilly, a constant noise that was easily drowned out by the buzz of people talking, yelling and in some cases puking up the fifth of alcohol they had consumed onto the hooker next to them. There was constant movement. Police officers walking back and forth, some in uniform some out but her cool blue eyes didn't leave that single bouncing shoe.

She wanted to see, wanted to hear but she had been told to wait, to stand there and above all else when she met him, to be on her best behavior.

"Mr. Wayne," the voice of a man wearing glasses, who had a nicely styled mustache could be heard. Commissioner Gordon; she recognized him from the television, and from hearing her father speak of him once in a while.

Turning her eyes upwards to the woman next to her whose black hair was short and styled neatly, green eyes turned to a television like she wasn't interested in what was going out in that hallway the young girl slipped a foot forward, then the other. Stealthy; she imagined herself to be. Completely and utterly undetectable as she was proud of the three steps she got before a hand fell to her shoulder, perfectly done nails with a deep red polish shining on her thin black coat.

"I know you're anxious," the voice of the woman held amusement that easily shown in those bright green eyes. "But you're just going to have to wait." Her red painted lips twisted into a gentle smile and the dark haired girl stuck out her lower lip.

"But Mom…" Her voice held a whine and she closed one eye as the hand moved from her shoulder to brush across her hair, petting her gently.

"Shush." It was a command, soft but final and the young girl turned her cool blue gaze back to the hallway.

Those deep jade eyes turned back to the television where the images of a roaring fire flashed on the screen and her red painted lips thinned.

Of all nights to be needed.

"Helena." The tall woman turned her gaze back down to her daughter who merely hunched her shoulders in response, no doubt in expectation of being scolded once again. "I need to go, tell your father that the shelter gave me a call." Leaning down she pressed her lips to the temple of the sulking child then slipped away with a last call of encouragement for good behavior.

That behavior lasted all of thirty seconds, until she saw the slender figure of her mother move down the hallway at her back and then she bolted for the door in front of her. Hand closing around the knob she gave it a tug and was assaulted by even more sounds and smells.

None of that interested her, she was much too focused on that bouncing shoe that she now saw had a pair of jeans attached to it, followed by the bottom of a black t-shirt that moved all the way up to the face of a boy. He had blue eyes that looked just like her own, dark hair like hers too and a scowl.

His arms were crossed against his chest, and she wrinkled her nose as she noticed he had a butt chin. He wasn't looking at her though, instead he was looking straight ahead to the man crouched in front of him; her father.

"Is it okay with you? It will be different, and you won't be going to the same school as before." Her father's voice was gentle and caring. What did he need to be so nice for? Helena scowled at the thought of this boy getting special treatment already, and he hadn't even come home with them yet. This was going to be a disaster.

"I don't care." The boys voice was the opposite of her father's; it was rough, uncaring and his shoulders gave an ill mannered shrug.

'Ooh, he's going to get it.' Helena's hands moved to her hips and she straightened her shoulders, waiting for the little brat sitting on the bench to get what was coming to him, no doubt a stern lecture for the way he was acting.

"Then, if you don't care, are you ready to get out of here?" That same gentle voice continued and Helena felt her mouth open a bit in shock then those blue eyes narrowed.

Movement happened then, and she stepped back into the doorway of the waiting room more as her father stood up, looking incredibly tall to a ten year old girl and the boy stood as well, turning his face to hers calmly as if he had known she had been standing there all along.

His blue eyes locked onto hers and he opened his mouth to speak, crossed arms dropping so he could shove his hands in his pockets of his jeans instead. "Who's the scrawny shrimp?"

That was how Helena Wayne met Terry McGinnis.

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A/N: Okay, really short to start. I'm going to keep writing on it tonight, hopefully to finish chapter one by tomorrow if someone…_anyone_ likes the concept so far. It's going to be different.


	2. Chapter 1 - First Morning

A/N: Holy shit! I actually got reviews and people reading this! I'm so surprised and so excited all at the same time! The first few chapters might be a bit slow, but it'll get better. There will be other batkids in this story, but not all of them will be Bruce's adopted children.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of DC Comics, I just screw them up to entertain fans.

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_Dreams_

'…thoughts…'

"…speech…"

Heir Apparent

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Chapter One

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_A single blue eye stared between the crack where soft light filtered in between the doors of the closet. His chest rose and fell quickly but silently as a line of cold sweat ran down his back under his t-shirt and the muscles in his arms strained as they held onto a smaller boy who squirmed and fought against him. A hand was closed over the mouth of the young boy, the other dug into his side to hold him tightly and it was hard to tell if he was shaking or if it was his brother in his arms as the screams of his mother reached them. _

"_Terry, take him and go hide!" She had instructed, hissed at him in a voice he had never heard from her before. There was a sound, like the crack of thunder as the front door was kicked open, sending splinters of wood flying. _

_He did what he was told, he scooped up Matt, his baby brother of four ,and ran across the house as fast as he could to the closet at the end of the hall. _

"_Look at this, what have we got here?" The sound of a mans voice he didn't recognize made his stomach turn as he slid to sitting to hold on better to the squirming and crying child in his arms. _

"_Shh…Shhh, Matt." Terry pleaded with him as he turned his face to look out from between those cracks._

"_Come on sweetheart, why don't you tell us where he put the information and we'll just act like this whole thing never happened." He watched as a large hand tangled in his mother's hair and she let out a whimper of pain and fear. _

"_I don't-…I don't know." Mary told them before crying out as that hand tightened on her hair then smashed her face down hard onto the wooden floor of the hallway, a sickening crunch echoing to the closet at the far end._

"No!" He shot up in bed, blind with tears as he fought against the covers restraining him, only to lose the battle as he hit the hardwood floor of his new bedroom firmly in a heap.

In the living room Helena looked up at the ceiling then let out a huff. Just what was that boy doing up there? She could hear him over her cartoons. Grabbing up the remote Helena turned up the volume as she curled her legs up under her much to the displeasure of a black cat that opened one yellow eye to peer up at her.

The drive home from the police station had been in complete silence. Bruce had let the new boy sit up in the front seat since Selina had left early and Helena had once again been dictated to the back. It wouldn't have bothered her normally, except for the fact that as Terry opened the front door he stuck his tongue out at her.

She had barely resisted the urge to kick the back of his seat the whole way home, which he had made sure to slide back as far as possible, taking up much more room than he could have possibly of needed with his short legs.

Of course he had been taller than her, but that wasn't her fault, she was still growing after all.

"Miss Helena." Alfred moved into the living room, and leaned over the back of the couch to look down at the child curled up on one end and gave her a smile. "Are you hungry yet?"

Tipping her head backwards she smiled back at the man that was the caretaker for their family and who she viewed as the closest thing to a grandfather she would ever have and nodded. "Yep."

"Your father has gone into the City for a meeting this morning, and your mother had to be at a fundraiser bright and early." He began to explain and she gave him a puzzled expression, she hadn't asked, nor was she really all that concerned with where her parents had gone considering it was a weekday. Alfred continued, "As you know, Master McGinnis is going to be staying with us for quite some time." Her darkening expression did nothing to deter him from his given instructions. "Since he is rather new and did not get the tour last night, perhaps you could…show him the ropes after breakfast?"

Helena shot straight as an arrow on the couch and the midnight cat gave a trill of surprise then jumped down to the much more safe and stable floor.

"Alfred, why do -I- have to show him around? I don't like him, he's really mean and he smells like a trashcan."

"Miss Helena, you would be doing me a great service." Not seeming at all surprised with her reaction he reached back and touched his hand to his lower back, letting out a soft sigh. "I just don't think my back can handle the stairs." The scowl he was met with could rival someone else he knew but the expression showed he had won the battle before it had truly begun.

"…fine…" Pushing up from the couch, her dark hair braided down her back from the night before swinging she straightened her oversized sleeping t-shirt and baggy black pajama pants and huffed her way out of the living room and towards the stairs.

Alfred watched after the girl with a fond smile. The house was certain to be much more lively in the coming days.

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A knock at his bedroom door, curt and well…more like a harsh bang pulled him out of the bathroom where he had emptied out his stomach courtesy of the dream, brushed his teeth twice and tried to tame his hair to no avail.

Helena stood on the other side of the bedroom door that was just down the hall from her own and gave it another rough bang. If he wasn't going to come out, then she guessed maybe he ran away, or starved to death or something which would have been fine with her.

There was movement on the other side, or so she thought she heard, but just to make sure she moved to bang again then nearly jumped backwards as the door was jerked open roughly.

He looked down at her as she glared upwards at him. "…I should have known it was you, shrimp." Sighing like he couldn't possibly be bothered he shifted to close the door and Helena brought up a barefoot and stuck it against the door.

"Breakfast is ready, and then I'm going to show you around." It was announced like he didn't have a bit of choice and Terry leaned down, putting his hands on his knees to be eyelevel with her.

"You're so short, I don't think following you will help me, you'd get lost in the grass." She would have argued that it was his mistake if he told on her, that he decided to be mean to her before she had her breakfast, that he should have known better because as he finished talking her foot moved from the door to kick him square in the shin. "Ow! You little-!"

Terry swallowed his pride to hop on one foot as he glared down at the spoiled little brat and rubbed at his leg.

"If it gets cold, Alfred will get mad and my Daddy will kick you out." Helena stated in an air of haughtiness even though she knew every word was a lie.

"Okay, okay. Jeez." It was just easier to go with her it seemed, especially if it meant not getting kicked and as she whirled around he leaned back a bit as to not get smacked by her braid then followed her.

The house was huge, and Terry was sure his own house could have fit in it at least ten times. He struggled not to gawk as he got to see it in the light of day and nearly tripped over Helena as she took her sweet time moving down the stairs as he was too busy looking upwards at the ceiling of the main hall.

"What are you, related to a slug?" He commented to the back of her head and she stopped dead on the stairs causing him to run into her with a soft grunt, both kids grabbing onto the stair rail to stop from falling down the last three steps.

Her head whipped around, and this time her braid caught him across the arm and he could have sworn it was made of something other than hair with how it stung. "You smell like a trashcan!" Helena announced and then tipped backwards so the back of her head smacked into his sternum then stormed down the rest of the stairs.

"Oof." That little brat. He glared after her then leaned to sniff at his shirt…trashcan?

"Miss Helena." Alfred had been watching the display and could barely contain his smile. It was unfortunate, the circumstances that brought the young McGinnis to their home, but he was delighted that Helena would have a playmate once again. She had been heartbroken when Richard had left for college.

"There, I got him! But I am -not- showing him around!" The young woman stuck her nose into the air and marched her way into the kitchen.

Terry rubbed his chest as he followed after her at a much slower pace, pausing only for a moment to gaze up at the older man.

"We met last night, Master McGinnis." Terry's nose wrinkled at his title and he moved to stuff his hands into his pockets but found his pajama pants lacking so his arms hung down by his sides awkwardly instead.

"Al-Alfred right?" A nod was given and a smile and he was happy he had gotten the name right on the first try, and didn't at all give credit to that little viper who _might_ have mentioned his name only minutes ago.

"Breakfast is ready in the kitchen, sir." Once again the young boy's nose wrinkled and he gave a nod as he wandered in to the kitchen.

He had expected a dining hall with a huge table where one person would sit at one end and the other at the opposite and the only way to hear each other would be to yell, or use little speakers. Instead he found himself in a large kitchen with a square table pushed against a large window that showed off the back grounds of the house. Five chairs were sat at the table, and only two places for eating. There was all sorts of breakfast food on the table, much more than the two could have eaten and Helena already sat at the table, mouth full of what looked like was an entire piece of French toast from the way she was chewing.

"I thought rich people were supposed to have good table manners." Terry commented as he slid into the chair across from the girl who simple opened her mouth wider in a childish display of "seefood". "What are you, five?" Reaching out he grabbed French toast for himself and slid it onto the plate where it made a satisfying plop noise of a perfect and thick piece of toast.

"Ten and a two months." Helena said around a new piece of toast stuck to her fork and covered in syrup.

"Yeah? Well I'm fourteen and three months." He puffed out his chest and she made a noise of mocking him, but it was mostly muffled by the food. He just hunched his shoulders a bit and took a bite of his own. It was so good his eyes wanted to water.

"Alfred is the best cook." Helena finally managed a complete and non face stuffed statement. "He'll be making us Thanksgiving too."

"Butlers are for lazy people." The retort came and Helena stared at him as if he had two heads and then she picked up the syrup and both him and his already covered French toast got a double serving of the sticky mess.

Terry watched her, mouth slightly agape as syrup dripped down off of his thick black hair, and onto the plate before him and his hand moved out, closing around his glass of milk.

This meant war.

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"I see the two of you are getting along well." Selina looked between the two children who were sitting on the kitchen table as far apart as they could, both covered in food along with a good half of the kitchen. "Helena, I expected better from you." She chided and watched her daughters big blue eyes well up with crocodile tears as her lower lip quivered.

"I…"

Holding up a single finger silenced the young girl instantly. "I don't want to hear it. You were the responsible one here, you were supposed to set a good example for Terry. You know the rules, and you chose to broke them."

Those tears began to run down her cheeks and Terry glanced over at Helena as she bowed her head and looked down at her lap. "I'm sor-…"

"I started it." He squared his shoulders, straightened up his posture. He couldn't stand it when girls cried. "We were just talking, and I thought it would be funny. I started it." Any punishment he was sure he could handle and as those calm green eyes turned to him he felt like an ant under a microscope. Helena's head snapped up and he could feel her eyes on him as well but he stared straight at Selina, biting the inside of his cheek as he waited for their punishment.

Selina watched the two silently for a moment then stood straight. Inside warmth spread through her chest. Alfred had been watching, Helena had indeed started it but the boy was sticking up for her.

"The two of you will clean up this mess, understood?" A nod was given in agreement and the woman turned, moving out into the main hall where Bruce stood.

"Well?" He reached out and took his wife's hand who gave him a charming smile.

"I think they'll be just fine." Moving up on her toes she pressed her lips to his and her smile broadened as he let out a held breath, turning his blue gaze towards the kitchen.

"Let's hope our house survives."

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A/N: Like I said, these first few chapters might be a bit slow, but we'll get to some interesting things! Review and tell me what you think!

…Nuclotei


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